Classic Builds

[Uh-Nu-Buh]

I echo Alexti. Brute power is going to be the best course for Dom III AI unless/until we get the ability to improve the AI itself.

Developers: As part of the current nation Mods you could have a "production weight" that AIs use. E.g. a nation mod that has a good basic lt inf, hvy inf, and missileer, then a number of variations of the above that produce subtle effects (e.g. a unit that is specialized for pillaging but isn't very good at actual combat) could heavily weight the basic troops so the subtle troops are never produced. The AI could then have a better chance of success. This would allow a modder to produce some real surprises for NIs as well (natural intelligences).

HoneyBadger: it seems to me that the best immediate way for us as players to do this is to create a mod for each nation that gives the AI the best of that nation, and gets rid of the subtle and flotsam. E.g. Arcoscephale EA would no longer have the pansy suicidal winged infantry. They are useful to the superior player, but the AI misuses them 9 out of 10 times. Maybe make the Myrmidons 10% cheaper. Create a couple of brute force gods to go with it: maybe two different SCs.

Another way would be to have the AI use more powerful moded nations. The mod I did a few weeks ago has horrible graphics, but it is awesome for the ai to play--The Hive. I am tempted to go back and actually put some real graphics in the mod and edit it specifically for the AI. In fact, I have two mods that the AI kicks butt with, and I will take a look at redoing them to make them even better for the AI to use, without cheating too much.